medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hot oil, wax & fish sounds really disgusting.
Thank you for the reference.
DW
Phyllis G. Jestice wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>> Abbo of St-Germain has an interesting reference to the issue in his
>> account of the Viking siege of Paris in the 880s.
>
> He writes of the attackers trying to undermine the walls: "Some of
> them wanted to undermine the foot of the wall with iron picks, but he
> [the leader of the defense] drove them back with hot oil, wax, and
> fish. This mixture, liquefied in a blazing furnace, burned the hair
> of the Danes and stuck to their heads. " (Sorry I don't have the
> original Latin; I translated the account years ago for class use.)
>
> How much to trust monastic accounts of medieval military ventures is
> another question. But Abbo was apparently in Paris at the time of the
> siege.
>
> Phyllis
>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> I've been an interested observer here for a while and this is one of
>> the few questions I can contribute to. The short answer is that are
>> no medieval references to boiling oil being used in castle sieges and
>> like many medieval 'facts' this one appears to be a Victorian
>> invention. As others have pointed out both oil and fuel are far too
>> valuable to waste.
>>
>> Machicolations are projecting stone parapets on the outside of a
>> castle walls, the name derives from the old French 'mache-col' or
>> broken neck and it is generally assumed they were used to drop stones
>> on attackers to achieve the desired 'mache-col' effect. Prior to the
>> adoption of machicolations, wooden hoardings were built overhanging
>> the outer castle walls and these fulfilled a similar, if more
>> temporary, purpose.
>>
>> Above gate passages one often finds murder holes, sometimes also
>> called machicolations in error. These were also used for depositing
>> stones, crossbow quarrels and spears on any attackers foolish or
>> brave enough to be in the gate passage. If any liquid was going to
>> be poured through these holes it would more likely be plain, cold water.
>>
>> The safest way to attack a castle gatehouse is to set fire to
>> anything wooden such as the gates, drawbridge etc and then retire to
>> a safe distance while the fire does its job. The best way to prevent
>> this is simply to pour water on it and it is probably this practice
>> which gave rise to all the boiling oil, water and sand stories.
>>
>> Hope this helps
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diana Wright"
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 7:40 PM
>> Subject: [M-R] Oil
>>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>>> culture
>>>
>>> This is not a very religious question, but perhaps you can tell me
>>> anyway.
>>>
>>> Can anyone provide me with one medieval source for pouring boiling
>>> oil [or water] from a castle on attackers?
>>>
>>> I have just read, for about the 400th time, the statement that
>>> defenders of X, Y or Z could pour boiling etc. down on attackers & I
>>> realized I don't know a single source for that.
>>>
>>> DW
>
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